Decorative article comprising knit stretch material

ABSTRACT

A decorative article comprising a tube of stretch-type knit material having a given diameter in its unstretched condition. The tube contains at least two balls, each having a diameter which is at least one and one-half times the tube diameter. The tube is closed at each end and is stretched in both its longitudinal and transverse directions to effect the closures. A plurality of indicia are attached to the outside of the tube to convey the appearance of a live entity.

United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,911,617

Gelfand [451 Oct. 14, 1975 [54] DECORATIVE ARTICLE COMPRISING 3526,103 9/1970 Lieber 46/151 KNIT STRETCH MATERIAL [76] Inventor: George Edwin Gelfand, 1005 Vine Ave., Scranton, Pa. 18510 [22] Filed: June 17, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 479,880

[52] US. Cl. 46/151; 46/156; 46/158 [51] Int. Cl. A6311 3/00 [58] Field of Search 46/151, 156, 158, 162

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,064,051 6/1913 Buckler 46/158 3.445.957 5/1969 Spahr 46/162 Primary ExamineF-Louis G. Mancene Assistant ExaminerRobert F. Cutting ABSTRACT A decorative article comprising a tube of stretch-type knit material having a given diameter in its unstretched condition. The tube contains at least two balls, each having a diameter which is at least one and one-half times the tube diameter. The tube is closed at each end and is stretched in both its longitudinal and transverse directions to effect the closures. A plurality of indicia are attached to the outside of the tube to convey the appearance of a live entity.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 14, 1975 Fig. 4

Fig. 3

DECORATIVE ARTICLE COMPRISING KNIT STRETCH MATERIAL BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a novel decorative article of manufacture comprising knit stretch material.

Decorative articles of manufacture have been made previously. New materials, such as tubes of knit stretch material, are now available which were not previously available. Such new materials offer advantages in lower cost, greater availability, improved characteristics and ease of assembly for decorative articles. The novel article exploits some of these advantages and may be made partly or entirely of synthetic material.

The novel decorative article comprises a tube of stretch-type knit material having an unstretched diameter in its unstretched condition. Thetube contains at least two substantially spherical objects each having at least one and one-half times the diameter of the unstretched diameter of the tube. The tube is closed at both ends, as by stitching or heat sealing, and is stretched in both its longitudinal and transverse directions to effect the closure. A plurality of indicia are attached to the outside of the tube to convey the appearance of a live object.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGS. 1 and 2 are side and front views respectively of a first embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are front views of a second embodiment of the invention adjusted in different positions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a first embodiment made up to have the appearance of a dog. The embodiment is comprised of a tube 21 of stretch-type knit nylon having a circumference of about six inches in its unstretched condition (three inches wide when laid flat). The tube 21 contains two solid balls 23 and 25 of foam plastic, such as of Styrofoam, about three inches in diameter (about 9% inches in circumference) which contact one another. At the point of contact, one ball 25 has a dimple or recess 27 to resist the displacement of the balls with respect to one another. In other embodiments, the balls may be of the same or different sizes, and may be made of other materials such as cork, wood or cotton.

The tube 21 is closed at both the rear end 29 and the front end 31 by stitching. Alternatively, the tube could be closed by heat sealing of the tube material or a coating thereon which has this property. In either case, the tube is stretched over the balls contained therein in both the longitudinal (tube length) and transverse directions to effect the closure. Besides containing the balls 23 and 25, the tube 21 is not attached to the balls.

Attached to the outside of the tube 21 is a plurality of indicia for conveying the appearance of a dog. Four legs 33 are attached in a rectangular array to define a base for the article. Two ears 35 are attached at the upper margins 36 thereof to the sides of the tube. Two eyes 37, a nose 39 and a mouth are attached to define the front of the article. A tail 43 is attached to define the rear of the article. Three color patches 45 are attached at random places on the article. The various indicia, which may be of fabric or other material, may be attached by stiches, adhesives, heat seals or any other expedient for attachment.

The second embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 is made up to have the appearance of a cat. The embodiment is comprised of a tube 51 of stretch-type knit polyester having a circumference of about four inches in its unstretched condition (two inches wide when laid flat). The tube 51 contains two solid balls 53 and 55 of foam plastic, such as foamed polyurethane, about two inches in diameter (about 6% inches in circumference) which contact one another. The tube 51 is closed at the top 59 and the bottom 61 ends by stretching in both the longitudinal and transverse directions of the tube. Attached to the bottom end are feet 63 which comprise the base for the articles. Various indicia including two eyes 67, a nose 69 and a mouth 71, whiskers 73 and a belly button 75, of fabric or other material are attached to the outside of the article. FIG. 4 shows the upper ball 55 displaced somewhat from that shown in FIG. 3. The upper ball 55 may be displaced or turned, within limits by grasping the upper and lower balls, pulling them slightly apart to the desired position and then permitting the stretched tube to draw them together and hold them in the displaced positoin.

I claim:

1. A caricatural construction of a live figure comprising a tube of stretch-type knit material having an unstretched diameter in its unstretched condition, said, tube containing only two substantially spherical touching solid objects each having a diameter which is at least one and one-half times said unstretched diameter, one of said objects having a recess therein, at the point of touching, said solid objects being freely movable with respect to each other, said tube being closed upon itself at both ends and being stretched in both its longitudinal and transverse directions to effect said closure, and a plurality of indicia attached to the outside of said tube conveying the appearance of a live entity.

2. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said solid objects are foam plastic balls.

3. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said stretch-type knit material is of nylon.

4. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said tube is a stretch-type knit nylon about 1% inches in diameter and said objects are foam plastic balls about 3 inches in diameter.

5. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said tube is closed by stitching.

6. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said tube is closed by heat sealing.

7. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said indicia include parts of a face including two'eyes,

a nose and a mouth. 

1. A caricatural construction of a live figure comprising a tube of stretch-type knit material having an unstretched diameter in its unstretched condition, said, tube containing only two substantially spherical touching solid objects each having a diameter which is at least one and one-half times said unstretched diameter, one of said objects having a recess therein, at the point of touching, said solid objects being freely movable with respect to each other, said tube being closed upon itself at both ends and being stretched in both its longitudinal and transverse directions to effect said closure, and a plurality of indicia attached to the outside of said tube conveying the appearance of a live entity.
 2. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said solid objects are foam plastic balls.
 3. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said stretch-type knit material is of nylon.
 4. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said tube is a stretch-type knit nylon about 1 1/4 inches in diameter and said objects are foam plastic balls about 3 inches in diameter.
 5. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said tube is closed by stitching.
 6. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said tube is closed by heat sealing.
 7. The decorative article defined in claim 1 wherein said indicia include parts of a face including two eyes, a nose and a mouth. 